Then Jamie started talking about the yeast he purchased to brew 24 gallons of “Snowfall Pale Ale” (his house beer). We quickly realized that he would need at least 1 Trillion yeast cells – he only had 2 vials of WLP005 (200 Billion total). He also wouldn’t be ready to brew for a few weeks – which means the yeast would be less viable.

So, I offered to build up the yeast count for him :)

This recipe is called “Loop de Loop”, a homage to the high alpha hops (Humulus lupulus) that will be used. It will have a big ABV and IBU like an Imperial IPA, but much more body. Imperial British?

Recipe Specifics

Style: 14-C Imperial IPA

Batch Size (Gal): 12.00 (for 10 bottled)

Anticipated OG: 1.070 (1.075 w/ sugar to secondary)

Anticipated ABV: 7.9%

Anticipated SRM: 8

Anticipated IBU: 109 (Rager)

Brewhouse Efficiency: 73%

Wort Boil Time: 60Minutes

Grain/Extract/Sugar

A normal DIPA recipe would be lot’s of 2-row, a little crystal, and some cara-pils to maximize head retention. Unfortunatly, I didn’t have any crystal or cara… Time to get innovative!

I decided to replace the cara with oats (both flaked and malted). This will add to head retention, but also body – which is off style. Oh, well ;)

As for the Crystal, I decided to stay up late and roast my own. Notes on home roasting can be found on my Glutard recipe.

25 lbs Pale 2-row (US)

1.5 lb Crystal 45? Home roasted!

1.5 lb Flaked oats

1.5 lb Malted oats (no husk)

1.5 lb Sugar to boil

My efficiency for this batch was a bit low (see ‘Brew Day Notes’ below). So, I plan to a little more sugar after the primary ferment. This will also help the yeast clean up a bit more

1 lb Sugar to secondary

Hops

This recipe is loosely based on Pliny the Elder. Starting with those numbers, I looked to see what was in my freezer.

2.0 oz. Newport 9.8% @ 60 min (pellet)

2.0 oz. Newport 9.8% @ 45 min (pellet)

2.0 oz. Horizon 12% @ 30 min (pellet)

3.0 oz. Cascade 6.5% @ 0 min (cone)

4.5 oz. Simco 12.3% @ 0 min (pellet)

Dry Hop 12 to 14 days total (4/27):

2.0 oz. Perle 7.5% (pellet)

1.7 oz. US Goldings 4.9% (pellet)

0.8 oz. Horizon 12% (pellet)

0.8 oz. Pacific Jade 14.6% (pellet)

0.7 oz. Vanguard 5% (pellet)

Dry Hop 5 days total

1.0 oz. Perle 7.5% (pellet)

1.0 oz. US Goldings 4.9% (pellet)

1.0 oz. Pacific Jade 14.6% (pellet)

1.0 oz. Vanguard 5% (pellet)

Water

Burton-on-Trent profile: per 5 gallons

— 3.5g Baking Soda

— 5g Chalk

— 8.5g Epsom salt

— 15g Gypsum

Strike 30 quarts at 170°F

Mash at 149°F

Boil for 60+ minutes.

Yeast

For a DIPA, you would normally use a clean american ale yeast. British ale yeast has a bit less attenuation.

WLP005 British Ale

1 week @ 65F

Rack onto first dry hops, add sugar

1 week @ 65F

Add second dry hop

5 days up to 75F

Brew Day Notes

I stayed up late the night before and roasted the Caramel malt. Judging by the final beer color, it may be darker then 45. I also set up the kettles and water additions.

6:10am – Started heating strike water.

7:00am – Cracked grain and added water. Unfortunatly, my mash tun is a bit small for this much grain. It started to overflow, so I pulled a gallon and boiled it down on the stove. This will undoubtedly add even more body/sweetness. It also means that I was well below my average 80% efficiency. No problem, I can add sugar directly to the ferment – which will also help dry it out a bit.